Credit: Visual China

 By Shaw Wan

BEIJING, December 14 (TMTPOST) — Yu Minhong, the Chairman of East Buy Holding Ltd., acknowledged significant lapses in the company's management in a video, after criticizing an employee for using the company’s official account to express personal grieves. This announcement marked his first direct response to the public controversy that has unfolded over the past days.

“It was initially a minor internal issue. However, due to mishandling, it stirred up a whirlwind of online public sentiment,” Yu said in the video .

The stock price of East Buy [HKG: 1797] closed at HKD27.80 (USD3.60) on Thursday, up by 2.2 percent from the previous trading day. The number was over 15 percent  lower compared to last Wednesday, the day the controversial comment that sparked the public outcry was released.

The editor of East Buy’s official account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, claimed that renowned anchor Dong Yuhui didn’t write the full script of the video clip about trips to Jilin province in northeastern China. This statement led to a heated debate between the editor and a myriad of fans of Dong, in particular middle-aged women.

"The reason why Dong’s fans are so angry is that such statement gives a misleading impression that his talent is not genuine," a netizen commented .

The followers pointed out that Yu himself had acknowledged Dong as the creator of the script. The editor's response was seen by fans as a betrayal  of Dong.

On December 12, Sun Dongxu, the chief executive officer of East Buy, in an attempt to calm down the debate, recognized Dong’s contribution to the company in a livestreaming show . He also pointed out that Dong’s annual salary exceeded tens of millions of yuan.

But the fans didn’t buy it. The company’s shares fell by 12.96  percent to HKD 27.20 per share. Its total market capitalization stood at HKD 27.61 billion, representing a loss of over HKD 4 billion in value compared to the previous day.

Dong has been credited as a key figure in East Buy’s success. As a subsidiary of New Oriental, the launch of the livestreaming platform was an attempt to save the former leading education services provider amid the government’s policy to ease the burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring for students undergoing compulsory education in 2021.